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This is in response to a former article I wrote on DIY Student Ministry. This is the third of ten areas that I’m covering in this series.

Being an artist at heart, I become very picky about how things look. My leaders and volunteers would be the first to tell you that if I don’t like the way something looks, I have no problem voicing that concern and/or adjusting it myself. I probably slave over the dreams of stage design too much, but feel that I have settled for an adequate stage design that can be slowly improved over time. For a particular series or event I have been guilty of spending entire days setting up rooms, stages, adjusting lighting, etc. I will have a vision in mind and just can’t seem to walk away until that vision begins to come to life. For those of you who don’t have your own space for students, I get it. None of churches I have worked/interned for have had a designated student building. While the student ministry may frequent the space the most often, the room is usually shared with other ministries in the church. With this in mind, you can’t go over the top being student friendly by making permanent changes to walls or staging. So how can you make the most of your stage/student space?

Before I share some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the past few years, I would encourage you to recruit a stage designer and interior designer, perhaps even a construction crew of dad’s (they love this stuff!). Having a stage designer for each one of your series can constantly bring that “new” feeling to an area – this also gets you away from the DIY SM concept. My stage designer is quite crafty and thrifty making the most of products so we can have a dynamic yet cost effective display. She is good about re-using and re-purposing products to get extended use out of them.

Tips & Tricks:

Make the most of your lighting! Get away from those hideous fluorescent lights and install some floor lamps, pars, and LEDs. LEDs can totally change the mood of a room…use a deep blue at the back of your stage to make it look bigger. Custom laser etched gobos can bring a “student owned” feel to your room even if it’s not your space. When you’re not in the room simply turn it off.

Using foam core, or white stretching fabric to make shapes and designs you can light up with LEDs.

Do you have an ugly background? Use pipe and black drape.

Rather than decking out the entire stage for a series, use a designated location. We “decorate” a 4’x8′ section of the room for each series and light it up. This allows us to give it our best shot in a smaller area…this is more cost effective and is easier to change over every couple of weeks.

Go digital. If you have a projector, use it! Our screen is the focal point of the stage…we using looping graphics and videos that go with the current series. This helps tie everything together in an entertaining way. If you have the money in your budget to upgrade to a brighter or higher resolution projector – it’s worth it.

Create multiple levels for your stage. You can do this in the construction of your stage or by using risers. If you use risers, throw an LED underneath, it can look pretty cool.

Experiment with student seating…on the ground, in chairs, or find some cool retro rugs. Considering how big or small your space is, you might be limited to your options.

Use a large TV as an external secondary monitor for rolling announcements and reminders. (this is a next step for our area)

Did I mention how much lighting can make a difference in your space? 🙂

Remember…you’re not in this alone, get others to help and actually own this!

This is in response to a former article I wrote on DIY Student Ministry. This is the first of ten areas that I’m covering in this series.

It’s Sunday morning and students start pouring into your room for the program. The lights are stuck on some weird pink color, the woofer is pumping so loud that the gray haired people are coming and asking you to turn it down, and for whatever reason that projector keeps flashing “replace bulb”. So what do you do? Well, this isn’t the first Sunday all of this has happened, its actually a rut you find yourself in and you carry on like usual and yet somehow seem to “make it work” for your students and leaders.

I know the feeling all too well, this has happened to me in multiple environments and I’ve seen many student pastors fall victim to a room that is not functioning properly for them. Here’s the good news, this is not a DIY project! There is an army of students, parents, technicians, other staff, leaders, volunteers that are willing to help. Here is the secret of all secrets, “MAKE THE ASK!” Letting down your pride and letting others into your problem areas can only help the process get better, misery loves company right?! But seriously, you need to move away from these items so that you can connect with people.

Here are a few simple truths or common practices that have helped me:

Turn that music on! Music seems to make any set up better, whether you are rushed for time or not.

Setting up chairs. Don’t do this alone, there are too many people to help. Don’t waste your time.

Get off the ladder, and away from “isolation” projects. You need to be connecting with people.

If you are handcuffed to the sound booth, you just built a wall (literally) between you and the people you need to be connecting with. Think outside this box.

Students can run slides, cameras, lights, and even sound sometimes. They just need someone to invite them into the process, teach them how and then let them own it.

Take one day a month to spend in your space outside of programming time. Pray for creativity, tidy up the room, think about new ways you can use your space.

Set up for your program a day or days before. I use a shared space, the days that I can get in there before and prep the room for program I am WAY ahead of the game when it comes to the programming day for my students. My mind is clear of prep work and focused on equipping, encouraging, and empowering my leaders and students.

Recruit. Be specific when recruiting leaders/volunteers. Have one own stage design, another own Audio/Visual, yet another check-in process. When people’s responsibilities start to blur lines you will lose quality and assurance that the specific area is going to be taken care of.

Confession, I’m guilty of reading Popular Mechanics magazine. I love to find articles on do-it-yourself (DIY) projects around the house. Whether its staining the wood trim around our windows or changing the oil on my motorcycle, I find it fascinating to learn and do things on my own.

While time alone and DIY projects are life giving to me…I know that doing student ministry alone is not! I hope you would agree with me that student ministry was not created for the student pastor. The student ministry is not a DIY project for one to carry all alone.

Student ministry is not about you! It is not about what you accomplish, it is not about the best message you ever gave, and it is certainly not about the youth space or branding that you have created for students. At the end of your term as student pastor, you will eventually be forgotten and replaced. That might seem a little harsh, but its the truth. Remembering that student ministry is not about you, and keeping that in front of you, will only benefit your ministry and expand its reach. Only when you have this mindset are you able to truly empower your volunteers and students do some ministry of their own.

You may be thinking, “If I want things done right, then I need to do it myself.” Get over it. When you empower others to do ministry you relinquish your rights to be the “do-er” but you don’t relinquish your rights to be the visionary. Practice painting the picture for people, and let them do it! It won’t be done the way you would do it, but more is being accomplished overall through others than if you run a DIY SM. Many times I have found that when I empower someone else…whether it be a mom, dad, student, or fellow staff member…they do a far better job than what I could have done myself! The best memories in student ministry are made when many hands work together, making the job light, everyone is participating by putting their best foot forward in an area that needs attention. Healthy teamwork within your ministry is necessary in moving things forward.

Here is a list of to-do’s that many student pastors (including myself) are guilty of when it comes down to a DIY SM:

I love scavenger hunts. It’s a thrill to race against time and compete for the prize. The team aspect is downright fun and helps people understand the importance of bringing others into the “picture” for a better outcome. When doing this hunt last night our student ministry upped our followers on Instagram by 600!!! Ok…not quite that much, but we did get 25 new followers 🙂 Before you dismiss that, really consider what this means. Extending your reach through social media by doing something like this can capture the one person that “needs” to see your photos.

Our students were the ones posting upwards of 10 photos a piece and tagging our group. Their friends from school, sports teams, work etc. saw these silly pictures, liked them and are now following the posts that I put up weekly informing students of gatherings, summer trip options, Biblical truth, and just funny, silly stuff. After the hunt we had some judges hop online and look at photos…we judged on timestamps, creativity, and those that best followed the directions. I printed off and gave them this picture to the right as an example before giving them the scavenger hunt challenge. Make sure students and those participating in the hunt understand the “MUST HAVES” so that you can leverage the game for the social media win!

Where do you start in getting people on the same page? Within two months coming into my position of student pastor I quickly realized that many of my leaders had a heart for students and community. Though that might be a good thing, I also realized that the definition of student ministry and community was very different for each individual. At the same time we had just done a pancake push to recruit more leaders. With an updated roster containing more than 60 names the last thing I wanted to do was shake things up and lose leaders. I knew that clarity, direction and vision was desperately needed as we move ahead together in aligning our efforts to maximize our potential. We offered a vision lunch and 30 of our leaders showed up. Getting them on the same page, I gave them a vision statement and a student ministry handbook. While it may seem like shuffling papers at times, this stuff is a must for any ministry!

VISION. You need something short, simple, easy to remember but all encompassing to what you are about as a ministry. This vision should be a rally point for leaders and students alike. Anyone should be able to critique your programs, small groups, outreach nights, camps, retreats, etc. against your vision and see that they line up. What are you striving for in ministry? What is the end goal for your staff, leaders, volunteers, and students? Does it match your churches philosophy of ministry? I am still tweaking the statement, but this what we have landed on for now.

Get connected to God. Get connected to people. Stay connected to both.

If we were successful in doing this as a ministry I think the end result would be an alive and thriving student ministry. The following vision of student ministry was a benchmark that was passed on to me from Bobby Pruitt, my high school youth pastor.

Student ministry is not student ministry until the student is doing ministry.

My desire would be that my leaders understand that small groups, teaching, music, and dynamic programs are all good things but these things are not the end result we are chasing after. Student ministry is not a 4-7 year sprint spiritually, crossing the finish line when the student graduates high school. We pray the individual student will be equipped to take every opportunity for the rest of their lives starting in middle school to look to the interest of others and display the attitude of Jesus, as found in Philippians 2.

STUDENT MINISTRY HANDBOOK. I think phrasing it like that sounds a bit less constrictive than a policy manual or rules to follow…but it is what it sounds like. To both our veteran leaders of 8+ years and those new leaders just expressing interest, this handbook provides in greater detail how we are going to accomplish the vision. The handbook provides the reality of expected duties that a leader will sign off on claiming they understand we are on the same page. It contains specific serving role protocol along with descriptions, requirements/expectations of a leader/volunteer, and a section on child abuse protocol and procedure. Prior to going over sealing the deal with the handbook there is an online application they are asked to fill out that covers references and background checks. Here is a sample of our most current Student Ministry Handbook.

Here are a few things I think should be included in any handbook and discussed with any leader or volunteer serving in student ministry:

A welcome letter.

Vision statement.

Their involvement in a community that is encouraging their personal spiritual walk. If they aren’t being poured into how can you expect them to pour into the lives of students?

Age requirements of those serving. (I’ll write more on this later)

Meeting with and driving students.

Sleepovers and students at your house.

Romantic relationships across the board.

Child abuse policy and procedure.

Be above reproach. This is a catch all phrase, holding leaders/volunteers to a higher standard to ensure both the safety of them and the student.

Get your ministry on the same page. Give them a vision to follow and handbook to go to when questions come up or they want to know where you stand on situations that will occur in ministry. Subscribe via email to lifeofayouthpastor.com in the upper right hand corner of this page.